I'm a first-time garlic grower and I need some advice! I've been growing 'Music' garlic and noticed that the scapes have straightened out while my plants have reached about 6 feet tall. The lower leaves are starting to brown, so I decided to dig one bulb up. It looks great, but it's much smaller than I expected based on the size of the plant. Should I leave the rest in the ground longer? What else should I be doing?
3 Answers
You might want to have cut the scapes earlier. They can take energy away from the bulb's growth. If you haven’t already taken them off, try to do it next time!
Make sure to feed them! I generally do it monthly in the spring until the scapes show up. Blood meal works great. If you haven’t been fertilizing regularly, that could have been a factor for smaller bulbs this time around.
I did feed them when I planted and once more in spring. Maybe I just didn't do enough?
Spacing and soil quality are crucial! How close did you plant them? If they were too close or the soil was compacted, that might have contributed to smaller bulbs. Just a heads up for next time!
The soil was loose when I planted them, and I spaced them about 10-12 inches apart. I even added wood shavings to help keep it fluffy.
I removed most of the scapes before, but left a couple thinking that the straightening was a sign to harvest. Guess I might’ve waited too long!